The prices on our store are 100% based off of AH prices. If you feel something is overpriced, it is the whole trading community that is responsible for it (including you, if you use the AH whatsoever). In fact, our prices take a card's historical price performance (AH Sell prices, not listing prices) over a longer period into consideration and are less volatile than the AH prices at any given point in time, which are open to manipulation especially for low-supply items. This means that if people are jacking up AH listing prices to corner the market at a time of low AH activity, our stable prices are always there to give people an option and keep such speculators from completely taking over. In short, our store helps to keep prices lower, not higher. Not to mention we have a zillion promotions and discounts up to 50% for bundles.

We also have costs like paying out writers/casters, sponsoring tournaments, and needing to constantly maintain, restock and manually deliver everything. Beyond that we don’t just sell cards, we sell a service. A service that a lot of people have appreciated not only for buying but also selling to us for more than 3 years.

So kindly mind your own business and quit talking about things you have no idea about.

What a shameless cheap-shot.
The prices on our store are 100% based off of AH prices. If you feel something is overpriced, it is the whole trading community that is responsible for it (including you, if you use the AH whatsoever). In fact, our prices take a card's historical price performance (AH Sell prices, not listing prices) over a longer period into consideration and are less volatile than the AH prices at any given point in time, which are open to manipulation especially for low-supply items. This means that if people are jacking up AH listing prices to corner the market at a time of low AH activity, our stable prices are always there to give people an option and keep such speculators from completely taking over. In short, our store helps to keep prices lower, not higher. Not to mention we have a zillion promotions and discounts up to 50% for bundles.

We also have costs like paying out writers/casters, sponsoring tournaments, and needing to constantly maintain, restock and manually deliver everything. Beyond that we don’t just sell cards, we sell a service. A service that a lot of people have appreciated not only for buying but also selling to us for more than 3 years.

So kindly mind your own business and quit talking about things you have no idea about.

I don't sell cards only buy them. I don't even trade cards I give them away. So no I'm probably not part of the problem.

Hexprimal is a good service. So is battleshopper. I didn't read Nero's comments as a dig, I just read it how I interpret trade in general right now. Trade is inefficient. The AH was evidence in that. The statistics @Fred just pulled up was a clear indication as well. Hopefully this helps with course correcting a bit, but it's just a baby step. We need so much more. Ultimately, trying to be a realist about this, only points me to believe this game is going to move closer and closer to CCG... At least in terms of how players want to progress, and who they will decide to pay to do so.

The overall idea and intent is sound, but I feel this is going to set a bad precedent for anyone planning a purchase in the future. Why buy a ton of packs or invest in singles at the beginning of a new set when the smart thing is probably to just wait and get them at a huge discount through these signature decks. At least making them account-bound would have made it so people who purchased them at full price had a differentiating factor and the premium they paid over normal price made sense or was more easily digestible. I thought this was why HxE never had any sales in their store - the moment you do that, people hold back on spending until they see such sales.

At the very least, some clear guidelines need to be communicated in advance (the scope/frequency of such moves) so as not to further damage player trust in the economy.

I agree, some third-party merchants should lower their prices to stay competitive *wink wink* *nudge nudge*

Eh, there are a lot of angles a merchant can take, as every opportunity is a business opportunity. For instance, now would be the time to crank the "upgrade cards" price up, like Eye of the Heart for the SW deck, Seeker and Glory for DW deck and so on. Some people are bound to be "hmm, what can I do to upgrade these 2500p deck" and merchants will gladly offer the opportunity for some hefty price.

The prices on our store are 100% based off of AH prices. If you feel something is overpriced, it is the whole trading community that is responsible for it (including you, if you use the AH whatsoever).

I've been doing Excel spreadsheet comparisons for ingame (AH) card price, Battleshopper price and HexPrimal price for the past 7 months, daily (though I stopped last month due to being to sour with the game to want to spend money again). I can attest that HexPrimal was, overall, the priciest source of cards. I say overall, because some cards were indeed lower than AH. However I noticed the following (1) It was 9 out of 10 times more expensive than the alternative market, (2) Even if, as is claimed in the quote, it more or less followed the AH price, they should know that AH prices are inflated and 1 $ is worth far more than 100 plat in the current state of the game. "Following the AH" in this case means they knowingly overpriced cards. Especially since, I assume, most of their stock comes not from buying cards off the AH but either from the opening of packs directly or buying cards off from people (for lower than the AH listed price).

I don't mean to stir up anything, I've bought from HexPrimal frequently, if only to support them, but they're ~10-20% above what I'd expect a card being sold for real money would cost.

Appreciate the effort, but the way you approach it is just extremely shady.
Btw, cancel real money prize for tournaments-- release dirt cheap preconstructed decks was the exact route Perfect World took before they closed the Chinese server.

You said you've used our service before and we appreciate your support. But you make some incorrect assumptions my friend. And for someone that claims to track things closely, your numbers are unfortunately not close to being accurate. You want details, let's talk details.

(1)It was 9 out of 10 times more expensive than the alternative market

We apply a formula that underprices certain cards to be below the AH averages. This formula is currently being applied to all non-Standard PvP cards (in addition to Standard cards we have a very high stock of). That's nearly 50% of the card pool, not the 10% you claim it to be.

(2) Even if, as is claimed in the quote, it more or less followed the AH price, they should know that AH prices are inflated...

How are we to know which AH prices are "inflated", which ones are under-priced and which ones are just? As I said, our prices take into account a longer price-performance of a card than just a few manipulated sales. If it has been selling at a certain price for a while where people are constantly buying and selling, then we can only assume that the market has settled and that price range is its true current value.

...and 1 $ is worth far more than 100 plat in the current state of the game.

First, there no longer exists discounted Platinum in the market like it used to. You feel $1 does not equal 100 Plat because a few people are selling some boosters for less than that in the forums? Come on... What % of the playerbase do you think transacts this way? The vast majority of the people buy boosters from the official store and also Platinum from the official store at $1=100 Plat. At HexPrimal, we constantly buy tons of Plat from the official store at $1=100 Plat. The people who are attempting to cash out do end up selling at worse ratios but that is the inherent cost of cashing out of a niche game supported by a small indie studio who have in place many policies to handicap free trade like not being able to buy/sell platinum.

Especially since, I assume, most of their stock comes not from buying cards off the AH but either from the opening of packs directly or buying cards off from people (for lower than the AH listed price).

Again, you assume wrong. A big $ portion of our stock comes from buying cards with Plat from the AH (for which our Plat is bought at $1=100 Plat ratio) because chase cards are the most expensive and they move fast. As you can imagine, it's very hard to run a business when your buy and sell prices are that close to one another. Also, opening packs and selling its contents is a very low-margin game. We are forced to do this for our Pre-Purchase program (so the service quality is maintained) and barely break-even.

...but they're ~10-20% above what I'd expect a card being sold for real money would cost.

As discussed above, your expectations are based on inaccurate assumptions. For the sake of clarity, let me give you some more reasons why you can't compare our prices with the AH on a 1:1 basis:

- Does the AH give 12.5% off if you buy items worth $200 or more? (HexPrimal Store Credit).
- Does AH give you a free booster if you buy items worth $50 or more?
- Does the AH offer 25-50% discounts on bundled products? (KS PvE, AA, and non-Standard Set bundles)
- Does the AH have a loyalty program where you can even get more free value for every amount you spend there?
- Does the AH have a tool where you can buy 100s of cards in seconds by copy pasting all your wanted cards into a form? (HexPrimal QuickBuy tool)
- Does the AH have a stable & reliable supply of all fringe items at any given point in time, including all Equipment, Mercs, and Packs?

@Chrome Appreciate the answer. I can go deeper into what I had been doing.

I was looking at Immortal and Standard Rare and Legendary (mostly) playable cards (e.g. Lord Blightbark is a constructed playable card, even if he's not in any current standard decks. Same with High Infinitrix). I noted yours and the other store's price from Monday to Friday in an Excel. At the end of the week, I would have a weekly average, so next week I could reuse the same cells. At the end of the month I'd have a monthly average.
For the AH price, I'd use HexPrice once every month and note down the average price of sales of the past two months.

In my searches, which were not at all thorough as I have been only checking ~100 PvP Immortal and Standard cards, I came to the conclusion that AH prices are grossly overprices (duh) but also that in some cases, HexPrimal was the most expensive store. I did not took notice of the store credit, nor the 5% discount codes nor any bundled products nor any loyalty programs. It was purely a "Let's type this card in the search box and see the price in the drop down menu".

You feel $1 does not equal 100 Plat because a few people are selling some boosters for less than that in the forums? Come on... What % of the playerbase do you think transacts this way?

Yes, that's what I'm talking about. Why would it be strange? (Not only in the forums but also game Trade chat and hextcgtrading subreddit). Also from people trying to cash out. The AH price is skewed to prey on the unware. The sad truth is that people do not trust the game and are trying to make a small steady profit while they can.

Again, you assume wrong. A big $ portion of our stock comes from buying cards with Plat from the AH (for which our Plat is bought at $1=100 Plat ratio) because chase cards are the most expensive and they move fast. As you can imagine, it's very hard to run a business when your buy and sell prices are that close to one another. Also, opening packs and selling its contents is a very low-margin game. We are forced to do this for our Pre-Purchase program (so the service quality is maintained) and barely break-even.

This seems harsh, I won't lie. I thought you'd have a better way, even buying from solo traders and selling higher. And no, this is not a jab, I honestly think you're losing money this way, if you have to follow the AH's whims.

Overall, I have a decent understanding of how things work. You have people working for you, writing articles, providing some unique stuff etc. However it does not change the fact that if I had 3 tabs open, HexPrimal, Battleshopper (I'm allowed to use the name, right? :P) and HexPrice, one those cases that ingame prices were lower, HexPrimal would be the most expensive option. E.g. I just searched for Voice of D'endrrah, as part of a tier 1-2 deck and it's like that.

Someone that does not know about all the offers or does not read the articles won't know why. Perhaps there should be more clarity in the main page. Perhaps you shouldn't have the search box set up that way.

Don't take it wrong, please. I will continue buying from both shops, as I've always tried to do because, believe it or not, I still like this game. But you are selling Voice of D'endrrah for 9.16$ when it's between 520 and 795 plat ingame.

Every business market has companies that provide additional Value Added Services for their products, and companies that undercut them by not doing so.

If I want a box of cereal, I can go to War-Mart, Costco, or Giant Eagle (or Publix, or whatever the premium grocery store chain near you is). They all have different price points due to the different operating philosophies of the stores. The same is true for every product in the world, including TCG cards from third-party sellers.

My only concerns are there are cards here like Exalted Pathfinder which I recall very recently being placed on the watch list for a ban. Would be extremely $hitty for someone to buy a deck only to have one or more cards banned in a relatively quick manner.

My only concerns are there are cards here like Exalted Pathfinder which I recall very recently being placed on the watch list for a ban. Would be extremely $hitty for someone to buy a deck only to have one or more cards banned in a relatively quick manner.

Magic had a similar situation where Stoneforge Mystic was banned in standard, but they sold an event deck with it. The solution was the card was only legal in that exact 75 card configuration. I'm not sure if the game allows for the same but it could be an option.

Hexprimal and Battleshopper are great editions to the game. Extremely straight forward, they show you their products and post a price. If you are good with it, you transact. Simple as that. They send product quickly and make it easy to do business. Try to run a competitor site and you'll quickly see getting rich quick will not even be in the top 10 of your thoughts.

"But you are selling Voice of D'endrrah for 9.16$ when it's between 520 and 795 plat ingame." completely misses the point that has been explained before. This is a card that has transacted for over 1000 platinum less than a month ago. You really think they have someone who's sole purpose in life is to hawk the AH and adjust prices real time on what is it now... 4000 cards and nearly 2000 pieces of equipment? They make it look easy but I assure you it is not.

You really think they have someone who's sole purpose in life is to hawk the AH and adjust prices real time on what is it now... 4000 cards and nearly 2000 pieces of equipment?

I seriously don't know. I thought they did. Perhaps they should? At least for the Rare/Legendary cards of the Standard legal sets?
Yes, I know it's hard (like I said, I partially did it myself).
But it doesn't matter in this context, really, Chrome said that they're following the AH, however the aforementioned example shows they're at least a week behind the price drop. I'm just nitpicking, I'm not claiming that HexPrimal is bad. Just slightly expensive, maybe, for someone who doesn't appreciate the occasional monthly article.

Aiyers was pretty much on point. Yes, our prices can sometimes be a little outdated. We don't always have time to nitpick adjust thousands of cards' prices but this goes both ways: much of the time people get amazing deals on cards that have had a recent increase in value but have not yet been adjusted in our Shop.

Sorry to derail the thread. I just feel uncomfortable being called out and not giving a detailed response/explanation in return. We've always run our business as transparently as possible and we have nothing to hide. I'd be happy to respond to further inquiries/questions/concerns, if any, via PM at any time.

On topic: I will post my detailed thoughts on the 10+ page thread where it's being actively discussed.

Aiyers was pretty much on point. Yes, our prices can sometimes be a little outdated. We don't always have time to nitpick adjust thousands of cards' prices but this goes both ways: much of the time people get amazing deals on cards that have had a recent increase in value but have not yet been adjusted in our Shop.

Sorry to derail the thread. I just feel uncomfortable being called out and not giving a detailed response/explanation in return. We've always run our business as transparently as possible and we have nothing to hide. I'd be happy to respond to further inquiries/questions/concerns, if any, via PM at any time.

On topic: I will post my detailed thoughts on the 10+ page thread where it's being actively discussed.

Your shop is still overpriced. The AH being as guilty as you doesn't make you less guilty.